Neck-yoke.



C. F. MCCLURE.

NECK YOKE.

1' APYLICATION man JUNE 1. w15.

AA41552,.07,059,- Patented me. mm.

lvof iron, with the neck,

yof certain of said UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

CICERO F. IMECCLIJ'ILE, OF ANGLETON, TEXAS NECK-YOKE.

1,207,059, Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 5, 1916,Application led .Tune 7, 1915. SerialNo. 32,673.

To all autom t may concern.'

vBe it known that I, CIcEao F. MCCLURE,

a citizen of the lUnited States, residing at Angleton, in the county ofBrazoria and State of Texas, have invented certain new land :usefulImprovements in Neck-Yokes,

of which the following isa specification.

My yinvention relates to animal neck yoke-s of the type particularly,though not necessarily, applicable to hogs.

The prima-ry object of vmy invention resides in the provision of a neckyoke having an improved fastening means associated with the memberscomprising' the frame of .the device whereby the members may be adjustedon the necks ofthe animals to which they are to be applied.

Another object of my invention resides -in the provision of an improvedprotecting means for the animal adjustably associated with the sectionsfor preventing contact of the members, which are preferably formed thusrendering the device comfortable and reducing possibility of sores on ananimal to a minimum.

Astill further object of my invention resides in the provision of animproved auxiliary fastening means associated with the members, saidauxiliary fastening means being particularly desirable when it isnecessary to attach the device to a bader unruly hog.

A still further object of my invention resides in the construction ofthe vmembers which are preferabl Tvtubular, the outerends members havingtheir and vbent to provide preventing the animal terminals flattenedbein-g positioned so :that they will engage the wire .to prevent passageof the 4hog .through the fence and will become easily disengaged uponmovement of the animal fromfthe fence.

A still 'further object of my invention resides in the provision of aydevice ofthe character described that is lsimple in'construction,eliicient in operation and one that can `.be-manufactu-red.*and placedon the market at ya minimum'cost.

ther objects as well as the nature, chan acteristic features zand scopeofmy invention l'will' be more readily understood from ing strips; Fig.4L` is a front elevational view cfa modified form illustratingtoadvantage the arrangement of the auxiliary fastening means; and F 1g.5 1s anenlarged vlongitudinal sectional view of .one .of the members.

vhaving ,the modified `form p of Aprotecting means thereon.

`Referrin g vmore particularly to :the dranL ings in which. similarreference numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views, Iprovide a plurality, preferably three, tubular`inemvbers l with a plurality of uniformly spaced and oppositelydisposed. openings lkadjacent the -respective terminals thereof. Itis tobe noted that one of the openings of cach pair islarger than theopp'ositeopening, this be lng for a purpose ,to sbe hereinafterdescribed. `In order to adjustably .secure these members `together in atriangular formation so that they will bel readily attachable `to hogsof various sizes, I have provided'preferably a pluralityof cotter pins3, thefheads of which are receivable partially withinthe larger of the.oppositely disposed openings inthemembers l.

In order to prevent ahog, or other animal to which the deviceisattached, from passing through a wire fence or frompermitting othersomewhat similar acts, I havefonnd it expedient l.to `flatten ,the--respective terminals of certainv of the members, namely those whichform thesides ofthe triangle when thedevice-isin position, as at .4, theflattened portions (being bent at substantially right angles to the'.main portions thereof rand provide,-guardingfhooks15. It is necessarythat when these -fmembers i are applied v in position .that the hooks be.etended in a vdirection toward the head V0ft -he animal so that `whentheA .animal approaches kthe fence, the guarding hooks will engage thewire and prevent the animal from pass# kform `consists of' a intimatecontact with twoof members l as illustrated to advantage 1n ing throughthe fence. The hooks are easily disengaged upon movement ofthe animalavvay from the fence. j

' For the purpose of protecting the neck of the animal as much `aspossible and thus reduce the occurrenceof soresk on the neck of theanimal, I have provided myimproved protecting means, which in thepreferred formed of a rather thick tape-like material. In the presentinstance are employed. fltach strip is arranged in a substantiallyV-shaped contiguration and has the krespective sidesthereofv arrangedthe adjacent Fig.y Qfof the drawings; In order that these 'stripsmay bekadjusted during the adjust mentof the members l, I have providedzji:plurality of metallic straps 7, the latter beingy rigidly connectedthro-ugh the medium of suitable fastening devices adapted for slidingmovementon the membersl. In order toprevent the accidental displacementof the flower strips from the lowerfof the members, and alsotoy provideanseflicient meansf'or receiving the throat of the animal to which theyoke' is attached,

i I have found it expedient; to `flatten 'the j between the lower orunruly hog', I have lowerbarfat a point intermediate the endsl thereofand bendv said flattened *portion` into anar-cuate formation to providea throat receiving recess 9; This flattened portion of the lowerbarpermits of the securement of the lower terminals of the lowerk strips 6`thereto through the medium of suitable fastening devices 10. f Sincethis recessie adapted to be arranged about the throatof the animal andsince rather thick 'materiah I have secured thev the strips are vofterminale ofthe lower strips jacent the ends of the recess9. stripI 11`of relatively thin materialA is posed on the bottom vofthe recess,minals of this strip l1 being interposed terminals of the lower strips 6and secured at the time the terto points ad- Another dis- .minals'aresecured bythe fastening devices 10.' It `will thus be seen -bythis arrangement of the strips,l I `have providedv van efficient meansfor minimizing injury to the animal to which the yoke is applied. Ininstances where one is possessed of a bad foundl yit expedient to employauxiliary fastening means in the present instance comprising pieces' ofrope v ranged at the inner member with the side members,

12, the respective terminals of which' are connected fto the members ladjacent thev respective endsthereof.l It is to bey noted that thelower-*endsof the ropes are 'ar section of the lower whereas theplurality o-f strips G three of these strips r v 8 to apoint `adjacentthecnds of the strips and are .portions are extended the tern oppositeends are arranged adjacent the fastening strips G. Itis desirable thatthe ropes extend in a semi-circular formation so that they may bearranged beneath the forward legs of the animal as` illustrated toadvantage in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

In Figs. d and 5, I have shown a modified form of my protecting meanswhich consists essentially of cloth sleeves 13 formed preferably ofthick canvas, said sleeves being slidably arranged on the side members1.

The operation of my invention is as follows:` Assmning that it isdesired to apply my improved neck yoke to a hog, the cotter pin 3 whichconnects the upper ends of the said members or bars is removed and thestrip, 6 is slid outwardly through the medium of the straps 7, duringwhich move ment the bars will move away from each other, thus creatingan enlarged area between the bars. The device is now placed about theneck of an animal and the said bars moved toward each other'. IIhesebars are now clamped into substantially close engagement with the neckof the animal, thc

yposition being lmaintained through the mec dium of the cotter pin 3which passes through the registered adjusting openings in the respectivebars. lNhile the adjustment is being obtained, the strips (i will beforced downwardly on the bars. Should it be desired" to employ theauxiliary fastening means, assuming that the lower ends of the rope arefastened at the inner section of the lower bar with the side bars, thefree about the legs of the animal and have the 'terminals thereofremovably connected to the side bars above vthe upper of the fasteningstrips G. It will be readily apparent thatv nowsecured in position, if ahog attempts to go through a wire fence, it will be prevented from sodoing when the hooks 5 engage the wire. When the hog moves away from thefence, because of the arrangement of the hooks, they will be easilydisengaged.

Although I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, I desire to be understood that I am not to be limited to theexact details shown, however, I desire that great stress be laid uponthe arrangement of the three bars that are adapted to beadjustablyclamped in a trithe device. being angular formation about theneck of an animal lfor restraining the animal from passing through thefences. Attention is also directed to the provision of a protectingmeans which minimizes injury to the animal to a considerable extent.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it can easily be seen that I have provided a s device that issimple in construction, containing but a few simple parts that can becheaply manufactured and assembled and when assembled can be placed uponthe market and sold at a minimum cost.

It will be understood that the above description and accompanyingdrawings comprehend only the general embodiment of my .invention andthat various minor changes in detail of construction, proportion andarrangement of the parts may be made within the scope of the appendedclaims and without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto Secure by Letters Patent, is

'1. A neck yoke including a plurality of tubular members of uniformlyspaced openings adjacent the ends thereof, fastening means engaging' theopenings for adjustably clamping the members in a triangular formationabout the neck of an animal, guard* ing hooks `formed by Hattening andbending the terminals of said members, and protecting' means removablyand adj ustably mounted on the members.

2. A neck yoke including a plurality of tubular members adjustablyclamped in a jacent the respective terminals thereof, fase tening meanspassing through the openings for adjustably maintaining the sections ina triangular formation, guarding hooks formed on the terminals of theside members, the lower of said members being flattened and bent.intermediate its ends to provide a throat receiving recess, protectingstrips adjustably associated with said members, and

means for fastening the lower of the fastening strips in the recess toprevent accidental displacement of the strips.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- CICERO F. MCCLURE. lVitnesses ARTHUR O. BRUBAKER, ,ELMER P. STOCKWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe nCommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

